ryan-/romney ticket. splitting up for the first time since announcing ryan as his running mate. boarding separate planes after a two-day run on the trail. romney's next stop is miami after a mourning event in st. augustine. >> i'm delighted to announce as my running mate paul ryan. to find common ground, bring people together, he's brought ideas together, the president's idea for medicare was to cut it by $700 billion. >> president obama barnstorming iowa today with seven stops planned in the hawkeye state. the newest man in the race is hot on his heels. congressman ryan making his first solo stump today at the iowa state fair. there is accusation that he's

trying to end medicare as we know it. >> you're going to have to do a little selling. >> our point is, we need to preserve their benefits because government promises that they've organized retirements around. in order to make sure we can do that, you must reform for those of us that are younger. >> ron mott is in iowa. ryan is going to head to florida next weekend but today he's where the president is, in iowa, which is a large concentration of americans over the age of 65. ryan will need to go on defense on those proposals out of the gate today? >> reporter: you've got to go to a state fair or two. it's a great venue for holding up a baby, kissing a baby. i suspect mit ryan might get that done today. there's a big crowd here. folks are measured and thoughtful about their politics, which is why it's always a

fertile ground for battling both for democrats and the republican perspective. his election as mitt romney's running mate has fired up the left. today we expect him to talk about the debt and deficit, his key point in this race. one of the criticisms of mitt romney was he was not able to connect with middle of the ground middle class blue collar workers. paul ryan connects with them. take a look at this poll conducted by usa today and gallup. they consider ryan a fair and poor choice, and there's clearly now division between the obama camp and the romney camp going forward from here, thomas. back to you. >> nbc's ron mott, i appreciate it. communication director for the republican committee, sean spicer. it's good to see you, sean. >> welcome back. it's nice to see you back on the

air. >> we're stretching our muscles after the olympics. take a look at this new ad that the obama camp put out in florida today ahead of the romney visit there. >> medicare is a bomb for senior citizens who without that would choose between food and going to a doctor. >> those kind of cuts are going to be incredibly painful to the working class person and because we're going to be the one wopayg for it. >> romney's strong demographics is seniors, iowa, pennsylvania, and florida. can mitt romney and paul ryan assure florida seniors that he won't change medicare as we know it? >> absolutely. here are the facts. one on the politic and one on the substance. substance, first. medicare goes bankrupt in 2024. that's a fact. it's out by the strtrustees. this president will let it go

bankrupt. his budget doesn't do anything to address it. second, when he crafted obama care, he took it out of the medicare fund and into the obama plan to fund that. the only one who has cut medicare by $700 billion is the vice president. the only one to save it is the president. i think we're going to do very well on this, both substantively and politically. on the political front, when you look at 2010, both during that general election and then in the subsequent special election, our candidates that went out there and who made an articulate case as to what our plan was to ensure that it has preserved and protected for seniors to come beyond 2024 were widely protected. people in this country understand that we have problems and they want politicians to go out there and put real solutions in place, which is exactly what mitt romney and paul ryan will do. >> sean, ryan is know well in the media not just across the

country just yet. he has searched in washington, as we look at his record, nearly all of his experience is inside the beltway. here's what he said at a campaign rally over the weekend. take a listen. >> we feel, as your fellow citizens, that we owe you a choice. a choice of two futures. we can either stay on the current path that we are on, a nation in debt, a nation in doubt, a nation with high unemployment, where we're giving our children a diminished future or we can change this thing and get this country back on the right track. >> all right. so, sean, for us, i have been covering him for a long time. we know he's one of the major conduct fors in the train in washington, d.c. so for people arnlt the country getting to know who congressman paul ryan is, it seems like he's distancing himself from the work that he's already done. the polls in washington are far less popular than the democrat. so how does he discount his own

record in the introduction that he's trying to make to those across the country, independent especially, that are just getting tuned into the election? >> well, i think i would use the words of president obama who said that paul ryan is a serious man who brings serious solutions to the problems. paul has spent the last 14 years talking about budget deficits, talking about how to create economic growth, reforming the tax code. there is no one but -- in the republican party or democratic party in washington that wouldn't admit that paul ryan has been someone fighting for reform and changes his entire 14 years here. i think when you combine that ticket, mitt romney's business experience, his experience as an executive, whether it was running and saving the olympics or his time as governor and congressman ryan's time sort of leading the charge for tax return, for economic growth policies, for budget discipline and trying to get us back on a path to balance, you have an amazing one-two team that can get this country moving again and, frankly, when you just

oppose to what we ended up hiring, if you will, you have problems with number one and number two, the economy and deficit. you've got a ticket, number one and number two, who are probably the foremost experts in this area as poe posed to the current team in there. >> so, sean, real quickly, as you point out, 14 years that he's been in washington, d.c., eight of which was during president bush's time, what legislatively did he accomplish? >> oh, i think he accomplished a lot. at the end of the day, he's one member of congress. but what paul used his voice to do was to talk about what policies he needed to do when president bush was wrong, he was one of those voices that stood up and said so when he was right, he said he was right. but there's no question that paul ryan has been a leader for fiscal responsibility and economic growth policies that have -- to get this country moving. i would argue that the democrats would admit to you that paul has been an independent leader and reformer in washington. and he's just the kind of person

that when you add to a ticket like this makes a very combination policy for good. >> it's been a jolt. sean spicer, nice to see you. >> thank you. >> i'm going to speak with ben labolt in the next half hour. don't go away for that. ryan celebrated his candidacy for vice president with a rally in wisconsin. the congressman said this is his deep roots in that battleground state. listen. >> my veins run with cheese, bratwurst and a little -- >> joining me now is ed schultz. great to see you this morning. >> thomas, it's great to be with you. >> he's a likeable guy, wisconsin hasn't voted republican since 1984. with then voting for ronald reagan, who ryan says is one of his inspiration. the state has gone very

democratic. a pollster shows the president has a seven-point lead there. do you think a ryan pick brings wisconsin closer to mitt romney? >> well, it looks better today than several weeks from now when you get into the devil of the detail. this is as good as vice presidential roll out that you could have. this has been a tough summer for mitt romney. he needed some positive news. he got it this weekend. but he also delivered an idealog. he was on the budget committee, no doubt about it, when he did not put the wars on budget. he did not put medicare part d on budget. he did not figure out what it was going to do to our economy. paul ryan has been accountable to what he wants to be accountable to. they had the -- the republicans had the wars off budget. everybody in this country knows how that butchered our economy. now he comes back and says we can't afford immediate care,

medicaid, and social security. he was behind george bush to go around the country and prif size socia privatize social security. he says -- ryan wants to take care of medicare and medicaid because future generations need it. look, there's no change anywhere. nobody wants this change. this is a reduction in benefits. i want to throw oaddress this b point that the republicans have been talking about all week. the information technology and delivery system is going to save that much money which gave the obama administration and obama care an opportunity to use those funds elsewhere. because the way we were delivering it was obsolete. the way we're going to deliver it in the future is going to be a lot different. it's going to give subsidies to people of low income to get covered. the preventive care clins that are going to be out there are something that the republicans have never had, that is going to

change medical outcomes. look, once we get into who ryan is, i want him to explain an i ran. they have a lot of problems with paul ryan. this is going to be a very intense campaign. >> we saw how paul ryan being added to the ticket is going to hurt or help the path to pennsylvania avenue. this is what governor scott walker had to say about mitt romney this weekend on "meet the press." >> i think it offers unique on one hand he has a tremendous way to inspire and pump up the base. you'll see that going into the convention. at the same time as we've seen it for years in wisconsin, he has tremendous appeal to swing voters and independenters that are battleground states. >> that comes from outer space. that just came off the planet of mars. that is not the case at all. he's been in a very safe district in wisconsin. it's been redistrict to bring more republicans into his

district. he basically hasn't gone against anybody in his 14 years in the congress, anybody that mounted any kind of a charge whatever. he's been in one in the safest districts. this guy is one of the biggest idealogs that they could put on. any reservation as to whether there's going to be a problem of mitt romney at the convention, you know what he's going to be? tim -- paul ryan is going to be the enforcer for the conservatives. he is on that ticket to reinforce everything that the conservatives want. his age is perfect. this is going to cast him on the national scene for the next 25 years and this is exactly what they want. this isn't a fly by night politician. that is what makes this i'd logically this election so important for the democrats. >> it's a big jolt with him being added to the ticket. >> congratulations to you. >> thank you.

you can watch "the ed show" every night at 8:00 p.m. on msnbc. the place for politics. ed, thanks. up next, more on the race to define ryan. our panel draws down on who he is, what his budget really does and would he really change medicare as we know it. plus, wedding bells to ring again for actress jennifer aniston. details on her big engagement and we'd love for you to weigh in on all of this. get back to twitter. tweet me @thomasaroberts. managing my diabetes is part of my life, between taking insulin and testing my blood sugar... is this part of your life? freestyle lite test strips? why, are they any... beep! wow, that hardly needs any blood! yeah... and the unique zipwik tab targets the blood and pulls it in. so easy.

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i guess you think i made the right decision, the right choice. >> people ask me why i chose paul ryan. the answer is, i wanted someone who was a leader. >> mitt romney from his new

running mate's home state in wisconsin. polls show 43% of americans never even heard of paul ryan. so now there is an all-out sprint to define the seven-term congressman. president obama has already tagged him as the, quote, ideological leader of the republican party. >> my opponent and congressman ryan and their allies in congress, they all believe that if we just get rid of more regulations on big corporations and we give more tax breaks to the wealthiest americans it will lead to jobs and prosperity for everybody else. that's what they are proposing. >> so let's bring in our monday political power panel. joy-ann reid, democratic strategist, chris, and republican strategist and former national communications director for the santorum campaign. it's great to see all of you. many political observers will

call ryan extremely conservative, considered the most republican member of congress to be tapped for a potential v.p. since 1900 and we also know he's not afraid to buck his own party. he voted for auto bailouts and prohibiting emt ploy discrimination based on sexual orientation. could ryan's voting record actually attract independent voter, the all-important swing voters? >> i don't think so. i mean, part of the problem is, this election is going to be defined by the economy and jobs and basically the different visions that these two parties and these two camps have in terms of where they want to take the country. i think what governor romney did, with a huge explanation mark, is the democrats have spent the last 90 days or so doing, which is that romney's for a very elite vision of the country. he's not for the middle class. he doesn't understand the middle class. he doesn't understand their

values. when you look at ryan's budget and his vision, ryan's policies and his votes, it reinforces every piece of that narrative. so i don't see how he helps romney or hurts democrats in terms of the appeal to swing voters. >> hogan, the obama campaign has been referring to the ryan budget as the ryan/romney budget for months now. romney trying to put some light between him and the ryan budget. highlights for everybody out there, the ryan plan would change medicare. it would essentially be a voucher program, affecting people under the age of 58 years old. it promotes cuts to medicare, food stamps, and transit infrastructure. listen to this on "60 minutes" last night. >> there's no question that your campaign has been trying to make this a referendum on barack obama. now some people are saying you are making it a referendum on paul ryan's budget plan. >> well, i have my budget plan,

as you know, that i've put out. and that's the budget plan that we're going to run on. >> all right. so he's got his budget plan that they are going to run on. he distances himself, hogan, from his own legislative background as governor, the one thing he got elected for. and now he's trying to discount the one thing that paul ryan is known for? how is this a marriage made in heaven? >> well, first of all, i just want to say mitt romney has effectively had a wonderful moment between republicans and democrats. as you see, it's brought us all together with one simple vice presidential pick. the republicans love him and the democrats love having him on the ticket. so it works out well for everybody. look, this is the message that we've been talking about from the get-go. paul ryan is known for his budget. the people we deal on a daily basis know about this budget, they know about mitt romney. hopefully it doesn't box mitt romney in in a sense he's going to have to be more specific on what he would do. otherwise, you're asking the

question the right way, does romney buy into all of the pieces of the ryan budget in that he is going to be the question as we move into the fall and the race to define that is what's going to be so important. look, paul ryan is extremely good at articulating his message and his vision and he does it in a way that's not threatening to a lot of people. the problem is, medicare, the budget, those are very knew wants, very difficult, very complex issues. can he do that in a short sound bite to get people on his side? that remains to be seen. but that's going to be the race moving forward. can ryan effectively come out, articulate that vision, be strong, push and attack the president? it makes romney a better candidate right now but romney is going to have to offer more specifics so he doesn't have to answer for ryan specifics. >> so joy-ann, romney is in your state of florida right now. paul ryan will be there next week. miami herald headline, ryan

could hurt romney in florida. >> absolutely. paul ryan may not be universally known but what everybody knows is medicare. in a state like florida that has a large elderly population, medicare is a key issue. when you see how they play it, the very first video that they've put out, the very first web ad against paul ryan as the v.p. pick is interviews with people in florida. they go across and have a cross section of people talking about paul ryan ending medicare. >> uh-huh. >> that's going to be a huge and a really powerful argument in that state and i actually think it's telling that on the first trip to florida ryan didn't go because that would have been his golden opportunity to confront the issue. it's not an issue of having a pleasant messenger. the message itself is going to be problematic in florida. >> my thanks to all of you, thanks. we've been apart for too long. sarah palin was part of the 2008 republican convention and she won't be this time around.

why republicans won't even be hearing from the former v.p. candidate. plus, ocho cingo gets 86 from the miami dolphins after his weekend arrest. rogaine? well, i'll admit it. i was skeptical at first. but after awhile even my girlfriend noticed a difference. [ male announcer ] rogaine is proven to help stop hair loss. and for 85% of guys, it regrew hair. save up to 42% now at rogaine.com.

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chad ochocinco is out of jail today and out of a job. they dropped him after he was arrested saturday in a domestic battery case involving his wife. johnson was released on $2500 bond yesterday. he's accused of head butting his wife during an argument, sending her to the hospital with a head las ser rags. the two were married last month in a lavish caribbean ceremony. a butler in all of this has been under arrest since may on charges he stole hundreds of documents from the pope's private apartment and then leaked them to the italian media. the scandal embarrassed the vatican exposing infighting and corruption all the way to the highest levels. on a brighter note, really big news, this announcement from jennifer aniston over the weekend. the 43-year-old actress said yes, there we have it, to her boyfriend justin theroux's proposal. they had this big proposal the

night they celebrated his 41st birthday. they started dating a year ago when they met making the movie "wanderlust." it's a state that kick started his presidential campaign and he's going back there today. can he recapture that magic? i'll talk to ben labolt, national press sect for for the campaign. plus, paul ryan and his views on abortion. the it affects the gender gap. t? uhuh yep uch let's find you a room. at hotels.com, you'll always find the perfect hotel. because we only do hotels. wow. i like that. nice no. laugh... awe uch ooh, yeah hmm nice huh book it! oh boy call me... this summer, we're finding you the perfect place - plus giving you up to $100 at hotels.com

♪ [music plays] ♪ [music plays] ♪ [music plays] nature valley trail mix bars are made with real ingredients you can see. like whole roasted nuts, chewy granola, and real fruit. nature valley trail mix bars. 100% natural. 100% delicious. welcome back, everybody. less than an hour from now president obama lands in iowa where he's going to kick off a three-day campaign tour in the hawkeye state. the president will have company. mitt romney's new running mate, paul ryan, is stump stopping in iowa today. it comes as the latest polls show a neck-and-neck race in

iowa. today. >> thanks for having me. absolutely. what do today, it's his fifth visit there this year alone, already matching the visits that he made there in '08. paul ryan did make this solid debut. well, the republicans had iowa to themselves all last year impact. very important to iowans when he travels across the state atoday. the first is the farm bill. we're experiencing the worst drought in 50 years and republican leaders in congress like congressman ryan have held

a support energy jobs have been created in iowa that would be at risk if this isn't he can ryan. at the fact that paul ryan is out there, we've had president obama and vice president biden working together. now they have a matchup here on the right. the romney camp is out with the second tv ad hitting the president on the topic of welfare. >> barack obama has a long history of opposing work for welfare. >> i was not a huge supporter of the federal plan that we signed in 1996.

>> on july 12th, obama quietly ended work requirements for welfare. you wouldn't have to work or train for a job. >> ben, i want to point out to everybody out there that our own first read in the washington post has pointed out that this ad is a big stretch. but the romney campaign is also accusing democrats of putting out dishonest ads as well. shouldn't both sides stop the dishonest ads and finger pointing of back and forth, they issues. focus to be. it's about the economic choice. that's what the president economy from congressman choice. millionaires

and billaionaires, look at his v.p. pick. when they were in springfield, the president was a democratic point person on that and praised by republicans on the other side of the aisle for working to prevent the work requirement. >> ben, with you guys going so hard after paul ryan on his budget and what it's going to do to medicare, do you think, though, that the president is putting himself in harm's way by attacking him when basically, as we look at it, the president has pledged to cut medicare by the same amount over ten years. the republicans also say that the cuts that he's put into medicare ultimately go to pay for his own health care plan. so are you fearful of demonizing paul ryan over what his medicare plan is when president obama has points. working

savings affordable care act extends the solvency of medicare by eight years and his budget plan would extend the solvency of medicare by another two years. and so that's ultimately what we're fighting for. the fact is, the romney/ryan budget would charge seniors health care. e energized elements of the republican the looked that

the right of their party and that could have a significant impact across demographics. if you're a student who needs a preserved. labolt, national press secretary for the obama campaign, good to see you. >> thanks for having me, thomas. >> absolutely. headliners go, we know of at least one party star that is not going to be speaking there. sarah palin once held as a game changer for the gop before she imploded on the trail in '08 says she won't take the time out to stage or tout the romney ticket on point there. she's going to instead focus on grassroots to get elected. mark, this is a big, i guess, revelation that she's not going to be coming out there. why do you think sarah palin is not going to take the podium at such a headlining event? >> thomas, it's not that much of

a surprise. mainly, because sarah palin has never been aboard the mitt romney train. yes, she's supporting his campaign now and wants him to defeat president obama but during the primary season she said things that criticized mitt romney and palin would be playing a higher profile role. all of that said, sarah palin star power as far as impacting this presidential race isn't as big as it might have been a year or two years ago. you just look at all of the conservatives, people like marco rubio, bobby jindal have been stumping for mitt romney on the campaign role, acting as key surrogates. sarah palin has always been left off that list. >> we have the filings from tampa bay broadcasting. president obama has spent over 1$100 million for ad spots that

will run during shows like dr. phil, extreme makeover, home edition, a lot of shows that get older eyeballs that are popular with seniors. the goal here is what? >> the goal there is to actually make sure that your message isn't drowned out by the four-day convention, taking place in tampa. tampa is the most important swing market in the entire state of florida and it's clear that the obama people want their message to be on tv during the republican contest. it's important to note that the republicans, the last two conventions, were held in new york city and st. paul, minnesota. this time it's at tampa. you can bet the democrats want to have their voice heard by those living there. >> mark murray, thanks. if you are a political junkie and want to keep tabs on the latest political news, do that by downloading the nbc political app available on itunes and it's

great. as mitt romney and republicans ramp up in florida,. they are locking horns with president obama in the battleground state of ohio. last month the obama camp and the ohio democratic party filed suit against the state for cutting back on its early voting period. with an exception made for military personnel. the romney camp issued a statement about the suit saying, quote, we disagree with the basic premise that it is arbitrary and unconstitutional to give three extra days of in person early voting to military voters and their families. now, democrats say the cutback hurts voters, especially african-americans who cast ballots for the president back in '08. chris is the chair of the ohio democratic party and joins me now. chris, the latest twist on this has republicans in ohio restricting early voting hours on democratic counties but extending early voting hours in the republican ones. of course, one of the fastest paths to pennsylvania avenue runs straight through ohio. the justice department, should they be taking action here?

>> well, there's a pattern that's clearly a place here in ohio and other swing states where voters are going to be disenfranchised on the republican closing the door on early voting. it's ironic that six years ago, then state representative, the republican secretary of state wrote the law that created 35 early days of voting here in the buckeye state. those final three days, 900,000 veterans in this state, blue star moms, gold star moms will be shut out of the final 72 hours because of this extreme measure of the secretary of state. what we'd like to see is that the the law bob taft signed into law in 2006 written by a republican actually be enforced in those 35 days of early vote be opened not just for some of us but for all of us. it seems right to us. we think the courts are going to agree. we have hearings on it this week and we look forward to hearing an affirmative response. >> chris, the main way is

through ohio since 1904 they have picked the winning president in all of two elections. in 2004 we have over 170 ohio voters that left the polling sites because the lines were just too long. in that instance, president bush won. the legislature later changed that and more people turned out and the victory went to president obama. so what's the potential outcome for 2012 and this limitation? >> i'll give you some statistics real quick. right here in franklin county, the city of columbus, 16 thou,0 voters didn't stand in line. they went home. in the final three days of the 2008 cycle, 93,000 ohioans voted in those final three days. we anticipate if the doors kept open at the board of elections across the state, more ohioans would vote. it's more republicans, more independents. we want to open up the process and the irony here, thomas s. that this process was written by

republicans in the state legislature just five or six years ago. but they've seen we're better at organizing, at implementing our field program. now they are having a change of heart, a political change of heart. they are closing the doors. but we're going to beat them in the federal courts. we believe we're right on the issue and we're going to continue to push these final 85 days to the election. >> ohio democratic party chairman chris redfern. great to see you this morning. >> thank you. why paul ryan is especially fit to be vice president, at least in one area. plus, british pop star for the london olympics. did you see this? one direction, george michael, what did you think of the closing ceremony? tweet me @thomasaroberts. neosporin® plus pain relief starts relieving pain faster and kills more types of infectious bacteria. neosporin® plus pain relief. for a two dollar coupon, visit neosporin.com.

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nicole, it's good to have you here. as we look at these numbers for everybody, according to planned parenthood, he makes no exception, and sponsored a personhood amendment that would have given full constitutional rights to fertilize eggs. what is your reaction and what should women be listening to when they hear ryan as a running mate? >> right. thanks so much, thomas. i'm here to explain to the country what we know here in wisconsin. ryan is so out of touch with what every day women experience in wisconsin and in this country. he wants to make all abortion

illegal in all cases and it's not just that, he also wants to make certain kinds of birth control illegal. he wants to make it so women can't access in vitro fertilization. he really thinks -- congressman ryan thinks he should be making health care decisions for women instead of women, their doctors, and families. >> so the national right to life has said this, congressman ryan has a deep abiding respect for all human life, including unborn children and their mothers, the disabled, and the elderly. but what impact do you think these views towards abortion from the two tickets will have when it comes to the women's vote and which way they lean? >> well, we already see a huge gener gender gap and i think that congressman's ryan choice on the ticket does not help him when it comes to the gender gap. he's out of touch with how real women see their lives, see their

need to access health care. he is in the very, very extreme corner when it comes to abortion access, not very many people think abortion should be o outlawed, including if a woman should die or if she's a victim of rape or access. it's not going to help him with your average every-day women voter. >> when you talk about the fact that the president has made this aggressive move for women in getting their vote, campaigning recently as we saw the other week in colorado, do you think that there is anything that mitt romney and paul ryan together can do to bring in swing voters, the independents out there to bridge this gap? >> right. when it comes to access to women's health care, we see such a stark different between the president and mitt romney and paul ryan. you know, they have a vision for america and for women that is

from about 100 years ago and president obama has done so much just in his first term to really increase access to basic health care for women, increase access to things like cervical and breast cancer screening, access to birth control. so these are issues that are in our everyday lives and they're just two very different visions. >> nicole, nice to see you. thanks for your time. republicans and democrats might have different policy views of congressman paul ryan, but most can agree on one thing. he's a good-looking guy. tmz actually declared him the quote, hottest vice presidential candidate ever. back in '08 he was included in the 50 most beautiful listing. vice president biden once called him bright and handsome. according to google, the second most common search term tied to paul ryan was shirtless. mitt romney says he chose paul ryan because he's a good leader, worked on tough problems with colleagues on both sides of the aisle, but also fit to be

president. literally. the republican congressman is a former personal trainer with 6% to 8% body fat. his workout of choice, p-90x which he described as this blend of muscle confusion, cross training, pushups, karate and yoga. the first lady goes late night. she will make her third appearance on the "tonight show." she is expected to talk about leading the u.s. delegation at the london olympics. speaking of leading, she will take charge of i-village for a week. she will become the website's first ever guest editor. the aarp has great tips on staying healthy on the high seas. avoid seasickness. have your physician prescribe anti-nausea medication before leaving. the sun is stronger at sea so use a high spf sun block and avoid stomach bugs and nanoviruses by washing hands before meals. eat only thoroughly cooked foods.

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so the 2012 summer olympics ending with a big musical finish. last night, london really kicked down all the stops for this.

performers both past and present played the closing ceremonies, including one direction, a spice girls reunion, paul mccartney, and the who themselves. pretty good to watch. julia has more for us. >> the olympics weren't just about winning medals. they were also about winning attention and followers on twitter. athletes like gymnast gabby douglas went from relative obscurity to over 650,000 followers. so we crunched the numbers and figured out who won the twitter olympics. the twitter gold medal goes to usain bolt. his win of the 200 and 100 meter race were the most tweeted about moments through the whole two-week period. prompting 84,000 and 74,000 tweets respectively. bolt was the most talked about athlete, drawing 7.6 million tweets. the twitter silver goes to michael phelps. the company says he had the biggest follower growth of nearly one million followers and he was the second most talked about athlete, drawing 4.5 million tweets.

taking the bronze for the most talked about athlete was british bronze medalist diver, tom daley. as for which sports reign supreme, it's soccer with five million tweets during the games. the opening ceremonies definitely earned a place on the podium. a tweet by team gb about the opening ceremony was re-tweeted over 44,000 times. more than any other olympics-related tweet. thomas, over to you. >> julia, thanks so much. that will wrap things up for me. great to be back with you. i will see you back here tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. eastern. don't go anywhere. "now" with alex wagner comes your way next. hi, i'm phil mickelson.

i've been fortunate to win on golf's biggest stages. but when joint pain and stiffness from psoriatic arthritis hit, even the smallest things became difficult. i finally understood what serious joint pain is like. i talked to my rheumatologist and he prescribed enbrel. enbrel can help relieve pain, stiffness, and stop joint damage. because enbrel, etanercept, suppresses your immune system, it may lower your ability to fight infections. serious, sometimes fatal events including infections, tuberculosis, lymphoma, other cancers, and nervous system and blood disorders have occurred. before starting enbrel, your doctor should test you for tuberculosis and discuss whether you've been to a region where certain fungal infections are common. don't start enbrel if you have an infection like the flu. tell your doctor if you're prone to infections,

have cuts or sores, have had hepatitis b, have been treated for heart failure, or if, while on enbrel, you experience persistent fever, bruising, bleeding, or paleness. [ phil ] get back to the things that matter most. ask your rheumatologist if enbrel is right for you. [ doctor ] enbrel, the number one biolog medicine prescribed by rheumatologists. ♪ power surge, let it blow your mind. [ male announcer ] for fruits, veggies and natural green tea energy... new v8 v-fusion plus energy. could've had a v8. mitt romney has given paul ryan onstage back slaps, breathless praise and very public shows of support. but will ryan's budget drive a wedge in their bromance? it's monday, august 13th and this is "now."